Samsung’s latest Android handset flatters Apple with its imitation but has some treats of its own to offer. Not least a radiant Super AMOLED screen…

We’ve seen Samsung’s Super AMOLED screen technology before, but the responsive 4in touchscreen on the Galaxy S is the best showcase of its sharpness and vibrancy. Even In bright sunlight it’s quite easy to view picture sand read text. It has stilt competition from the iPhone 4′s even sharper display, but the Galaxy S’s colors are a smidge more saturated.

At 118g it’s no lightweight and the back panel is flimsier than we’d like. Elsewhere it’s made of sterner stuff though. There’s a 3.5mm headphone socket on top and side–mounted volume and power controls. Haptic feedback from the touch-sensitive hardkeys is a reasurring… erm .. touch.

The Galaxy S comes with Android 2.1 (Eclair), but it will begetting the 2.2(Froyo) update later in the year. Thanks to a speedy 1GHz Hummingbird chip. It shouldn’t have any trouble keeping up with all of Google’s new mobile OS tricks. It certainly doesn’t struggle with the current version.

The 5MP snapper does a fine job, with crisp daytime shots and decent handling in low-light situations, although there is some colour saturation and noise. Recorded video is sharp and vivid at 720p, but there is judder with fast movement. As you’d expect. playback is fantastic on the big screen and the viewing angle is extensive.

We got well over a day’s heavy use from the handset off a single charge. Expect It to go for the best part of two days with  moderate use, if you can resist not playing with it non-stop, that is. Android’s interactive live wallpapers were made for this device and bring the homescreen to life.

Build Quality

There’s no two ways about it – Samsung’s latest mobile looks frighteningly like an iPhone 3GS. And while that ought to be a good thing, its build quality doesn’t stand up to Apple’s meticulous standards, so it feels poorer by comparison. Turn it on, though, and that big screen blows you away.

Camera

Samsung’s 5MP snapper is capable of stunning results, but in the absence of a flash it struggles to produce good images in low light. Its second front-facing camera is handy for video calling but if you want an Android camphone SonyEricsson’s XperiaX10 is still top dog.

Multimedia

That 4-inch screen is primed for hi-def video viewing and picture perusal, and no phone out there provides a better portable movie experience. Music is well handled, too, with a slick Cover Flow-style album carousel in another homage to Apple’s design ingenuity. Well, if it ain’t broke…

User interface

Like the Wave, the Galaxy S runs Samsung’s latest TouchWiz interface. Again, there’s more than a nod to the iPhone’s interface, most obviously in the tiled app icons. We tested an early model, so the final version is likely to run smoother, but its no match for H TC’s Sense skin.